Royal Disfranchisement (Kosmania)

In Kosmanian law, Royal Disfranchisement refers to the King's exclusive power to strip a parliamentary House's members from their right to vote on legislation. It is one of the reserve powers of the King of Kosmania, and it usually serves as a "check and balance" between the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The disfranchisement is always temporary and is normally only used to expedite parliamentary procedure on a specific piece of legislation.

Disfranchising the House of Commons

Disfranchisement of the House of Commons occurs with some frequency, mostly due to the fact that the House of Lords is the court of last resort in Kosmania. According to the Kosmanian constitution, once the House of Lords has reached a verdict on any case, the King must then order the House of Commons to produce legislation that will legally enforce the verdict. Should the House of Commons refuse to produce such legislation, the King is then constitutionally obligated to disfranchise the Commons. The House of Lords is then given exclusive rights to write the legislation. Royal assent is then the only other step in the process.

Disfranchising the House of Lords

In Kosmanian parliamentary procedure, the approval of both Houses is required for a piece of legislation to even be considered for royal assent. Typically, the House of Lords passes all legislation passed by the House of Commons without hesitation. On occasion, however, the House of Lords does, for whatever reason, reject legislation passed by the Commons. In such a situation, the legislation returns to the Commons, to be edited or kept as is, and a second vote is called for. Should the legislation pass with a supermajority (472 "Yea" votes), the King is constitutionally obligated to disfranchise the House of Lords. As the legislation will have already been passed by the House of Commons, the only step required for the document to become law is again royal assent.